Apparatus for filling fuse-blocks and the like with powder.



R. S. SPERRY.

APPARATUS FOR FILLING FUSE BLOCKS AND THE LIKE WITH POWDER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 23, 1915.

, 1,178,188. Patented Apr. 4,1916.

2 $HEETSSHEET I.

R. S. SPERRY.

APPARATUS FOR FILLING FUSE BLOCKS AND THE LIKE WITH POWDER.

Patented Apr. 4, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 23, I915.

rm: COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH (10., WASHINGTON. B- C UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROG-ER S. SPERRY, 0F WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR T0 SC'OVILL MANUFAC- TURING COMPANY, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CON- NECTICUT.

APPARATUS FOR FILLING FUSE BLOCKS AND THE LIKE WITH POWDER.

Application filed October 23, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROGER S. SPERRY, a citizen of the United States, residing at lVaterbury, county of New Haven, and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Filling Fuse-Blocks and the like with Powder, fully described and represented in theother relations, it has been especially de signed for use in preventing dried powder from absorbing moisture from the air of the loading room while it is being loaded in fuse blocks for explosive shells, and the invention will be described as thus used.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a simple and economical apparatus for keeping previously dried powder dry, so that it can be handled under ordinary at-' mospheric conditions, and can be loaded into the fuse blocks and packed therein without absorbing moisture from the air of the loading room and thus becoming unfit for use.

Generally, the invention consists in the provision of means for supplying dry air and discharging it down onto and over the surface of the powder to be loaded and the I fuse blocks into which it is loaded; a slowly moving current of such air, under a small pressure, being supplied, so as to form a protecting layer or blanket of such air over' the powder during its manipulation.

For a full understanding of the invention, a detailed description of the same will be given in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a diagrammatic plan view of the apparatus, the loading table being broken away; Fig. 2. is a side elevation of part of the construction shown in Fig.1, the air compressor being omitted; Fig. 3 is a vertical section on an enlarged scale of the expansion chamber shown diagrammatically in Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a cross section of the construction shown in Fig. 3, the section Fig. 5 is a vertical detail section of the air Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 4, 1916.

Serial No. 57,625.

nozzle which supplies air to the powder container; Fig. 6 is a front view of the same; and Fig. 7 is a plan view of one of the distributing nozzles.

The dry air may be supplied from any suitable source, and dried in various ways, but in the preferred embodiment of the invention the dry air is obtained by compressing air in an air compressor and then expanding it. Such an air compressor is conventionally shown in the drawings indicated by the numeral 1, in which the air to be dried is compressed and the water forced out of it by the compressing is trapped as usual. The amount of compression of the air may, of course, be varied, but it has been found in practice that air compressed so as to enter the expansion chamber at about 75 pounds will give a sufliciently large expansion to so proportion the moisture in it to the volume of expanded air, that the air is substantially dry for the purpose required. This compressor may be located at any convenient place in the plant, and is connected through a pipe 2 having a valve 3 with an expansion chamber 4. It is preferable, however, to have the compressor at some distance, say 1000 feet, from the loading room, in order to avoid any possibility of a flash through the pipes in case of an explosion in the compressor, and to give the compressed air a full opportunity to cool and deposit water, which will be trapped off in any suitable manner. In the particular construction illustrated, this expansion chamber is in the form of a tank which is supported in any suitable manner, as on a framing 5. The air expands in this chamber to about atmospheric pressure, but a pressure just a little above that of the atmosphere is maintained, so that there will be sufficient pressure to move the air current gently along to and over the powder. The dried air is maintained preferably at a temperature slightly below that of the surrounding atmospheric air, this difference in temperature causing the air to tend to settle down on the powder which is to be protected and to better maintain the layer or blanket between the powder and the surrounding atmosphere. In the preferred embodiment of the apparatus, therefore, the expansion tank and pipes to the nozzles will be covered with some heat-insulating material, as, for inthe construction tight. Pipe 10 has secured at its inner end an elbow 13 in which is carried the expansion nozzle 1%, which is of dimensions suitable to supply the amount of air required.

The dr1ed expanded air 1s, as before stated, under a pressure a little more than that of the atmosphere, so that this pressure causesit to flow at an even slow rate to the points where it is to be used. This air is delivered from the expansion chamber to a pipe 15 from which it is delivered to the loading table Lby means of branch pipes 16, 17, only one side of the loading table and only one branch pipe and connections being shown, it being understood that the loading table and connections about to be described are or maybe duplicated. The loading table is supported in any suitable manner, as by standards 18, one of which is shown in Fig.

2 rising from the floor F or other suitable base. The loading table is or may be provided with work supports 19, 19' on which the fuse block 21, into which the powder is to be loaded, is supported during the loading operation, the powder can 20 being supported on the table. 7

The powder can 20 and the fuseblocks 21 are supplied with the dried air through means of branch pipes 22 leading ofi of pipe 17 From these pipes the air is distributed by nozzles 23 of peculiar shape which act to discharge and direct the air onto and over the whole surface of the powder in the can and the fuse block which is being loaded from such powder. By directing the air down onto the powder can the dry air blanthe can.

ket is maintained between the powder and the atmosphere as the powder level inthe can lowers, the dried air settling down in These nozzles are what may be termed hooded nozzles, having wide discharge orifices, the top wall of the orifice 7 being sloped downwardly and acting as a bafiie to direct the air down onto the powder, both in the can and in the fuse; block. In the construction illustrated, the nozzles include an elbow 24 which passes through the loading table and is connected to one of the branch pipes 22, elbow, and upper and lower packing washers 25 and collars 26, taking against the upper and lower sides of the loading table thelatter entering the form atight connection and convenient support for the nozzles. The discharge mouth of the'nozzle is, in the construction. shown, a separate piece secured to the nozzle in any suitable manner. This mouth comprises upper and lower plates '27 and 28, the upper plate being sloped downwardly toward the lowerrplate so as to direct the air down onto the powder, and down into the powder can.

The fuse block to be filled is placed on the support 19 and a load of powder placed in it by the operator. The'filled block is then placed on another support 19 where the powder is arranged in the groove of the block by another operator. To prevent moisturebeing absorbed during this operation, this support 19 is also provided with a third nozzle 29 which directs a current of dried air onto the fuse block. The block is then removed to a suitable compressing mechanism and the powder finally com pressed.

YVith the construction described a layer or blanket of air is provided between the surrounding atmosphere and the powder can during the operation. of loading the fuse blocks and the powder in the can is kept dry for the length of time the can is kept open. Likewise the powder, after it has been placed in the fuse block, is kept dry, and the short distance between the place where it is loaded to the place where it is finally compressed, is not sufficient to cause it to absorb moisture to any appreciable extent. With the apparatus described, therefore, the atmosphere of the room be kept normal,

.which is a great benefit to the operatives,

and the necessity for expensive apparatus necessary for maintaining the room atmosphere at a certain predetermined content of moisture is done away with.

Vhile the apparatus has been described in connection with loading fuse blocks, and is particularly useful for such purposes because of the character of powder used, it

7 will be understood that it is capable of other uses and the invention is not, therefore, to be restricted to this particular use.

No claims have been made in this application to the-method disclosedfor keeping a dried product dry, as such method forms the abject-matter of a separate application Serial No. 57,624, filed October 28, 1915.

hat is claimed is: I

1. In an apparatus 'ofthe class described, the combination of a powder receptacle, means for supplying dried air, and means for discharging the dried air onto and over the receptacle to form a layer or blanket of dried air between the contents of the receptacle and the surrounding atmosphere.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a powder receptacle, a source of compressed air supply, means for expanding compressed air to dry the same,

and means for discharging the dried air down onto and over the receptacle to form a layer or blanket of dried air between the contents of the receptacle and the surrounding atmosphere.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a powder receptacle, of air drying means, and means for discharging the dried air with a slow movement down onto and over the receptacle to form a layer or blanket of dried air between the contents of the receptacle and the surrounding atmosphere.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a powder receptacle, of an air compressor, an expansion chamber in which the compressed air is expanded to alittle more than atmospheric pressure so that it will flow slowly, and means for discharging the current of dried air down onto and over the receptacle to form a layer or blanket of dried air between the contents of the receptacle and the surrounding atmos phere.

5. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a powder receptacle, of air drying means, means for maintaining the dried air at a slightly lower temperature than the atmosphere, and means for discharging the dried cool air down onto and over the receptacle to form a layer or blanket of dried air between the contents of the receptacle and the surrounding atmosphere.

6. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a powder receptacle, of air drying means, a nozzle supported and shaped to deliver dried air down onto and over the surface of the contents of the receptacle, and connections for supplying dried air to the nozzle.

7. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a powder receptacle, of air drying means, a nozzle supported over the receptacle and having a wide delivery mouth, the upper wall of which is sloped so as to direct dried air down into the receptacle, and connections for supplying dried air to the nozzle.

8. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a powder receptacle, of a source of compressed air supply, an expansion chamber in which the compressed air is expanded to slightly above atmospheric pressure to dry the same, a nozzle supported over the receptacle and having a delivery mouth formed to direct dried air down onto and over the surface of the contents of the receptacle, and connections for supplying air to the nozzle from the expansion chamber.

9. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a powder receptacle, and means for supporting it, of means for discharging dried air down onto and over the surface of the contents of the receptacle, a fuse block support adjacent the powder receptacle support on which the fuse block is supported while it is being filled with powder, and means for discharging a current of dried air onto and over the fuse block.

10. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a powder receptacle and means for supporting it, of means for discharging dried air down onto and over the surface of the contents of the receptacle, a fuse block support adjacent the powder receptacle support on which the fuse block is supported while it is being filled with powder, means for discharging a current of dried air onto and over the fuse block, a distributing support for the fuse block, and means for discharging dried air over the distributing support.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

ROGER S. SPERRY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

